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Shortest man in world died, Guinness World Records says

Jessica Durando
USA TODAY

Chandra Bahadur Dangi, who held the Guinness World Record for shortest man in the world, has died.

Chandra Bahadur Dangi, from Nepal, as he is presented with a certificate in 2012 by a Guinness World Records official after being declared the world's shortest man at 21.5 inches tall, in Kathmandu.

"He will be remembered forever as an iconic and extraordinary record holder," Guinness said in a statement.

Dangi, a Nepalese man, died at age 75 on Thursday evening of an undisclosed illness at Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical Medical Center in Pago Pago, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Chandra Dangi walks past the feet of Sultan Kosen.

Dangi, 21 and a half inches, met the world's tallest living man, Sultan Kosen, 8 feet, 9 inches, for the first time in London in November 2014 to celebrate Guinness World Records Day.

"Even though he is short and I am tall, we have had similar struggles throughout our lives and when I look into Chandra's eyes, I can see he's a good man," Kosen told the Daily Telegraph in 2014.